Oil Choices

Shick · Aug 6, 2008

I have a Mahindra 2310 and the owners manual says to use SAE 30 for temps. over 77 degrees. I live in southeast Texas and the temp. is over 77 most of the time. I have read that 15W-40 is normally used in diesel tractors. Any idea if SuperTech SAE 30 from Wal Mart is an acceptable oil to use?

Thanks!

Diamondpilot · Aug 6, 2008

I would use what the manual says but would make sure the oil you chose meets the rating required for your diesel engine which is usually CI4 Plus or something similar for a diesel.

Chris

Dargo · Aug 7, 2008

Diamondpilot said:
...but would make sure the oil you chose meets the rating required for your diesel engine which is usually CI4 Plus or something similar for a diesel.

Chris

Ditto. You won't believe how many people I talk to who think there is "no such thing" as diesel specific motor oil. Maybe it's not exactly diesel specific, but it is rated for use in a diesel engine whereas some other oils are fine but not diesel rated. Diamondpilot gave you good advice.

RWEST · Aug 7, 2008

You won't believe how many people I talk to who think there is "no such thing" as diesel specific motor oil.

I usually show them a bottle of John-Deere 0W-40 oil and ask them to show me the "S" rating. It doesn't have one, which causes much consternation. 'Course, Joe average doesn't generally know there are any other oils, other than what's on the shelf at Wally's.

RalphVa · Aug 7, 2008

I'd use a multigrade, diesel-rated. For my next change on most of my engines, I plan to go to the new 0w-30 Mobil 1.

Ralph

DieselPower · Aug 8, 2008

Actually there are some very specefic engine oils targeted at only diesel engines in the power generation and locomotive industry. In our world of cars, trucks and tractors you will find two major category's. They are API "S" or "C" category. The S stands for service and the C stands for commercial. From a laymans standpoint the easiest thing to remember is "S" for "Spark" ignition (gas engines with spark plugs) and "C" for "Compression" ignition (diesel engines ignited by compression).

Best thing to do is read over this link and learn the API "Donut". It will answer most questions about oil certifications. http://www.api.org/certifications/engineoil/categories/upload/English_Oil_Guide.pdf